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Children
No Issue
2nd Elizabeth Alexis Coppinger
Children
Living Son
Living Son
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Notes:
Easton Express, Friday,
November 29, 1933, Page 1
Asher Seip, Banker, Lawyer, Dies after Long Illness
End Comes at Height of Career of Well-Known Resident of Easton
Asher Seip, prominent banker, lawyer and civic leader, died at his
home, 600 Burke Street, Easton, at 4:40 a.m. today after a protracted
illness. He had been ill about three years but it was not until September
13 that he was fatally stricken. He was 59 years old.
Death came at the height of his professional career. He was well know
and respected in legal and banking circles and as a business leader
in the community exerted a great deal of influence towards it's civic
betterment.
Mr. Seip was born May 23, 1876 at Seipsville, just west of Easton.
He descended from very early settlers in this region. His father, Peter
H. Seip, was proprietor of the ancient inn at Seipsville where Mr.
Seip was born. His mother was Mary Alice Walters, also a descendant
of early settlers.
the first school that Mr. Seip attended was the County school in Seipsville.
He prepared for college at Lerch's Preparatory School in Easton and
took his college course at Lafayette where he was graduated in the
class of 1899. Mr. Seip was president of his college class and at the
30th anniversary reunion in 1929 his classmates erected a tablet in
the old Seipsville Hotel to mark the place of his birth.
After graduation from college Mr. Seip taught school for two years
at Reedsville, Pa. Returning to Easton he took up the study of law
in the office of his uncle, the late Francis H. Lehr. In 1902 the Master
of Arts Degree was conferred upon him by Lafayette College. He was
admitted to the Northampton County Bar on May 4, 1903.
His ability as a lawyer, the forcefulness of his personality and his
strength was an advocate were immediately felt and he rapidly acquire
a substantial law practice. He was particularly active during his early
years in the criminal courts. continuing in that branch until about
10 years ago. His ability in this branch of the practice was recognized
as early as 1908. Judge William M. McKeen then district attorney, appointed
Mr. Seip as his assistant. At the end of Judge McKeen's term. Mr. Seip,
himself, was elected to the office of district attorney and was assisted
in the administration of this office by Judge Frank P. McCluskey.
So widely was his ability as a trial lawyer in criminal cases recognized,
that for a number of years after his term of office as district attorney
he was called into almost all of the important criminal cases tried
in Nor5thampton and other counties. He won notably victories for clients
in several homicide cases.
In 1921 Mr. Seip associated himself with the late Daniel Steckel, Bart
S. Redding and Ralph E. Yarnelle in the organization of the Lafayette
Trust Company. When this institution received it's charter, Mr. Seip
was elected first president of the new bank and had since served in
that capacity.
After Mr. Seip entered the banking field, the character of his practice
changed. He abandoned work in the criminal courts and devoted himself
to civil practice and to Orphans' Court matters. His talent in these
fields of legal endeavor was obvious and with in a short time he occupied
a position in these branches of the law even more prominent that the
place he had held on the criminal side.
When the organization of the Hotel Easton was undertaken as a civic
enterprise in 1925 he took an active and leading part. On the completion
of the drive Mr. Seip was made president of the Hotel Easton Company
and served in that capacity until his death.
In latter years, there was scarcely an important civil action or matter
before the Orphans' court in which Mr. Seip did not appear. Mr. Seip's
breadth of vision and depth of sympathies carried him beyond the narrow
limits of the actual practice of the law. He was interested and active
always in the work of the Northampton County Bar Association., rarely
missing a meeting. He served as president of this Association in 1924.
He was also a member of the American and Pennsylvania Bar associations.
Through Mr. Seip's connection with the Lafayette Trust Company he
made contacts with bankers far and wide. His fine mind, his knowledge
of the law, his sound judgement in banking matters and his genial personality
at once brought him to a position of prominence and leadership among
the bankers. He frequently read papers and delivered addresses before
groups of banks. In 1930 he was elected chairman of
Group III of the Pennsylvania Bankers; Association. In 1933 he was
elected chairman of the trust division of the same association. The
crowning honor of his banking career came within a few weeks of his
death. On September 1, last, he was appointed by governor Earle one
of nine embers of the Pennsylvania Banking Board. This board was authorized
by the act of 1935. It was created to constitute a sort of supreme
court for the banking business conducted under the Department of Banking
of the Commonwealth.
Mr. Seip received another appointment from Governor Earle which indicated
the breath of his influence in public affairs. He was appointed a member
of the committee to prepare a preliminary draft to revise the State
Constitution.
Mr. Seip was an active member of the Democratic party and in his earlier
years wielded a strong influence in the party in the county and State.
In recent years due to the press of other business he dropped in the
background in political affairs.
Mr. Seip was twice married. In 1904 he was wed to Miss Elizabeth B
MacDonald of Lewistown. She died on September 12, 1929. On December
26, 1931, Mr. Seip was married to Miss Elizabeth Alexis Coppinger,
of Scranton. Two children, Asher Seip. Jr., and Jacob Edmund Seip were
born of this marriage. Mrs. Seip and her children survive. He also
leaves a brother, Jacob Seip of Waterloo, Iowa, and a sister, Alice
Seip Simmons, wife of Harold Simmons, of Jamaica, L.I.
He was a member of Christ Lutheran Chruch, Easton, the Easton Board
of Trade, the Pomfret Club, the Pennsylvania German Society and the
following fraternal bodies; Amana Lodge, Knights of Pythias; B.P.O.
Elks, No. 121; Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar; Vanderveer
Lodge, I.O.OF,; Washington Camp, 542, P.O.S.of A.; Lehigh Consistory,
Scottish Rite Masonry, Allentown; Rajah Temple, Nobles of the Mystic
Shrine, Reading and Easton Chapter, No. 73, Royal Arch Masons.
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